Lack of Expert Testimony Dooms Claims in S.C. Surgical Stapler Case

FLORENCE, S.C. — A South Carolina federal judge has awarded Ethicon Endo-Surgery Inc. (EES) summary judgment in a surgical stapler action, ruling that the plaintiff’s failure to proffer expert testimony was fatal to his claims that the device was defective.

In an Oct. 24 order, Judge Joseph Dawson III of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina explained that in South Carolina, the “general rule is that where a subject is beyond the common knowledge of the jury, expert testimony is required.”

In July 2019, John Eichin diagnosed with diverticulitis, which caused a perforation in his colon. …